March 13

1 Corinthians 16:6 But I might stay with you for a while. I might even spend the winter. Then you can help me on my journey everywhere I go.

At first, we both immediately thought about our backpacking trip to Wales for this devotion. After I graduated college in May 2023, Braden and I spent 6 days backpacking along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, stopping to rest in the cute towns we passed and pitching our tent for the night wherever we found a spot on the cliffs. It was an incredibly beautiful, wild, and holy experience, but when we read this verse we realized that it wasn’t what we wanted to focus on for this devotion, since the real god moment came after.

After we came back from Wales, I went back to Juneau to work summer lunch and Braden stayed in Washington working for a local fire department. The plan was for us to spend the summer finding an apartment and jobs down in Washington where we would live for the next year. It was difficult and stressful and nothing was lining up quite right for the jobs or apartments but we were so sure we didn’t want to move back to Juneau just yet. Then Braden came up to visit during a string of beautiful warm sunny days in July. We spent the week hiking, paddleboarding, cliff jumping, fishing, and just enjoying all the loveliness that is Juneau in summer. I remember we were driving to go hiking somewhere and we were both talking about how difficult it had been trying to make Washington work and looking at the mountains and water glittering in the sun when we both were struck with the same thought: “we don’t want to live anywhere else, this is where we’re supposed to be.”

After that, things just kinda fell into place in the way that we had been waiting for. Missy offered us an apartment to rent in the fall when she heard we were looking for one, I got a job with the youth shelter, and Braden started the process of applying for a full-time position at CCFR. We didn’t really have a plan, but we did have a strong calling to be here and trusted that it would work itself out if it was meant to be. We both love this place. We love the supportive community we have here, the beauty we experience on a regular basis, and the life we’re building together. Sometimes the choice to stay in one place and build something there can be a journey that is as exciting and adventurous as traveling to far-off places. We heard God’s calling to stay (even through the winter!) and trusted in God to guide us in the journey to come, wherever we go.